Liquid droplet heat exchanger studies

Recent studies at the University of Washington (Bruckner, et al., 1982, 1984, 1985) and elsewhere (Taussig, et al., 1985) have addressed the feasibility of direct contact heat exchanger concepts, such as the liquid droplet heat exchanger (LDHX), for space power systems. In the LDHX heat is transferred by direct contact between a recirculating cloud of finely dispersed liquid droplets and a working gas. A critical design requirements of the LDHX is effective separation of the heat exchange media following heat transfer. The principle of the cyclone dust separator, in which particulate matter is separated from a swirling gas by centrifugal forces, offers an effective approach to the problem. A variety of cyclone-based LDHX geometries have been investigated, culminating in a low aspect ratio vortex chamber configuration (Bruckner, et al., 1984, 1985)